


Heritage

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-07-12 15:52:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7112386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Young Thomas Moorland learns what his father really is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heritage

The island of Jorvik was rich with secrets, but also rich with places for young boys to hide or play.

“Aaron, watch this,” said Thomas, standing on top of a hill. It would later become a dumping site for a certain energy company, but right now it was just a sheer drop. Thomas scrunched his eyes shut and splayed his hands, which began to glow with some kind of dark energy. The aura spread to encompass him entirely, and Aaron gaped at the sight of his brother lifting up off the ground.

“Thomas!” The sound of their father’s voice cause both boys to spin to face him, and also resulted in Thomas losing his concentration with nothing but air separating him from the hard, unforgiving ground.

Thomas landed with a snap, which was luckily mostly the tree that he’d ruined. He still broke his ankle, though. He howled and clutched at the injured limb, and his father ran to his aid. Sands could have used this as an opportunity to teach the boy healing magic, but he didn’t want his wife to find out.

“It’s okay, I’m here, I’ll help you,” said Sands, kneeling down at his son’s side.

“I’ll go get mum,” said Aaron, already running back to the manor.

“No!” Sands immediately ordered. “She can never find out that you two were fooling around with magic.” She’d believe them, too, and that was the worst part. The witches around here hadn’t exactly given magic a good reputation.

“B-but he’s,” Aaron started to protest, brown eyes wide as he looked between his injured brother and home.

“He’ll be fine,” said Sands, making his voice gentle again. “Thomas, hold perfectly still.”

“O-okay,” said Thomas, sniffling. He did as he was told and kept staring at his injured ankle with watery eyes, wincing as his father laid a hand gently on it. His eyes widened as he saw the same dark energy surrounding his father’s hand that he’d used earlier, only this time it was clearly being used for a different purpose. To his surprise and immense relief, the pain around his ankle disappeared completely and it looked as good as new once his father removed his hand.

“There,” said Sands, and smiled at his son. “Is that better?”

“Yes,” said Thomas, wiggling his foot experimentally. He grinned as it caused no pain. “Wow, it’s all better! How did you do that, dad?”

“The same way that you were able to levitate before,” said Sands. He frowned. “I need to talk to you about that. You too, Aaron.”

“Okay,” said Aaron, though he still looked sceptical. Magic wasn’t something to be messed with, as his mother had always warned him. But she only warned him of that when his father wasn’t around…

“You two boys have inherited a great power,” said Sands, standing in front of his sons as they sat on one of the large rocks near the back of the winery. “I’m going to tell you two boys a story. A story about betrayal, a war, and the ongoing battle that I want you two to someday join.”

Aaron didn’t know how he felt about a battle, and clearly Thomas shared his opinion. But they still listened to their father tell them about someone called Garnok and a world known as Equus. Aaron personally thought that Garnok could have handled the whole thing better. If all he wanted was more water, why did he go to a planet as devoid of water as Equus? Earth was much richer in water, after all. He said as much.

“Ah, that is a good question, Aaron,” said Sands. “My master didn’t know about Earth, and he was too desperate to search. Really, the Horse-People helped us out by flying us away and near Earth.”

“But if he wants to flood the planet, we’ll drown,” said Thomas.

“That can be fixed,” said Sands. “Later on I will teach you how to shapeshift, as well as some defensive magic. But we can’t let your mother know.”

“Why not?” asked Thomas. “Is what we’re doing bad?”

“Not necessarily,” said Sands. “The Soul Riders have just spun it that way.”

Somehow, Thomas didn’t believe his father. True, he’d used that magic to heal him, but Garnok had killed millions when he’d tried to flood Equus. If he tried that on Earth, he might succeed. And so, after Sands had gone off to do something else, Thomas sought out his mother.

“Mum,” he said, finding her in her grape fields, “I need to tell you something important.”

“What is it, dear?” asked his mother. “You know that you can tell me anything.”

“Dad has magic and I do too and he says that Aaron does as well,” said Thomas. His mother probably wouldn’t believe him, but at least it was out there now. His mother had always taught him not to lie, and lying made him feel all icky anyway.

“I’d suspected that,” said the Baroness. She sighed. “Thomas, run along and play outside. I have to have a serious conversation with your father.”

Thomas did play outside, but very close to the window. Aaron played a little further away, although it was more feeding the horses than playing. With his close vantage point, Thomas could vaguely hear what was going on inside. His parents were fighting, which was very unusual. But it was his mother who was doing the majority of the yelling, and that was normal. She did have quite the temper.

At last, the front door of the manor flew open and his father stalked outside. Thomas hid behind a pillar, his heart pounding. Surely, his father must know that he was to blame for the fight.

“I told you not to tell your mother,” said his father, and Thomas braced himself for the blow that he must surely receive.

“Go away!” Aaron yelled, having run over from the stable as soon as the door had opened, and a pulse of dark energy flew from his palm to hit his father square in the chest.

“Banishment,” said Sands, and laughed darkly. “You have great power, my boy. Both of you do. It is just a shame that I will not be here to watch you grow into your powers. As for you, my wife, this won’t be the last you see of the Generals.”

“It will be if I have anything to do with it,” the Baroness snapped at him. Her husband only grinned at her before he finally disappeared in a flash of white sparkles.

“Mum, I’m sorry I told you about that,” said Thomas, running to his mother to hug her legs.

“I’m glad that you did,” said the Baroness. “Come here, Aaron.” Once she had both boys hugging her, she walked back inside the manor and took them to the private sitting room that she never let them in.

“Is dad gone forever now?” asked Aaron, staring at his hands once he was seated on the lounge.

“I hope so,” said his mother. “I want you two boys to promise me never to use your magic again. It is very dangerous, as you have seen today.”

“I promise,” said Aaron. He never wanted to make someone disappear again. No matter how evil they were.

“I promise too,” said Thomas after thinking on it for some time. “I was levitating earlier and fell and hurt my ankle. But then dad healed me.”

“Well then, I suppose that not all of your magic is bad,” said their mother. “But still, you must never use it. I’ll have to report this to the druids.” She sighed, suddenly feeling very tired. She’d been so foolish, being drawn in by that man’s irresistible charm and charisma. He’d played her for a fool.

“Are you okay, mum?” asked Thomas. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“No, I’m alright,” said their mother. “You don’t have to worry about me. I just need a nap, I think. Godfrey can look after you two for the rest of the evening.”

“Will you be having dinner with us?” asked Aaron. He liked it when his mother joined their formal dinners.

“We shall see,” said the Baroness. There was so much to do now, dinner was the last thing on her mind. But at least she still had her boys. That meant something. They were the best thing to come out of that evil man. She pulled both of her boys closer to her, comforted by their presence. They would be her anchor in the hard times ahead, and somehow, they would pull through. They had to.


End file.
